Quick Question #4

Question

Here's another Quick Question: When I looked up on translation the word 'is' it directed me to the word 'be'. Do 'is' and 'be' have the same meaning in Spanish?

The questions are quick, but the answers never are. - jtaniel, Oct 19, 2015

Answer 1

Pick the correct sentence:

Be you right?

Is you right?

Are you right?

It's the 3rd one of course. "Be", "is" and "are" are all forms of the English verb "to be". None of them is incorrect depending on how they are used in context.

Conjugations are tables of all the changes verbs undergo to express who the subject is, what time the action takes place, and the mood of the meaning. English conjugation are so simple (to English speakers) that most English speakers aren't even aware of how complicated verbs can be in other languages.

Don't forget "am." ;-) - Winkfish, Oct 19, 2015

I only used the ones Matjam listed, I think I figured out once that the English verb "to be" has more different forms than any other: be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being. - Jubilado, Oct 19, 2015

Answer 2

Matjam, in a sense the same rules do not apply. If you see my comment under my first answer, it lists all possible forms of the English verb to be . There are two different verbs in Spanish that can be translated as to be in English

Here are the forms of Spanish verb ser:

soy, eres, es, somos, son, fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fueron, era, eres, éramos, eran, seré, será, seramos, serán, sea, seas, seamos, sean, fuera, fueras, and so forth....

You can look up the conjugation of estar if you like.

The same rules about tense apply for English and Spanish. But the mood called Subjunctive is not used as much in English as in Spanish so rules become more complicated.

Don't give up, just keep on doing your exercises!

OK thx :) - Matjam, Oct 19, 2015

Answer 3

Both English and Spanish verbs have infinitive forms. When speaking of a given verb in either language, most frequently one will refer to it in that form. The verb in question is a bit more complicated than many because it is irregular in both languages, and in Spanish there are two verbs, both irregular, that translate into English as "to be": ser and estar. Each has its uses and its own distinct conjugation. Figuring out when to use which of those verbs is one of the difficulties that English speakers face when learning Spanish.

Answer 4

Roughly speaking there are about 10 variants of the English "to be" verb.

In Spanish there are at least 100 from "Ser" and "Estar".

Try and find as many as you can.

Ian, I got 8 in my comment. I thought that was all. Did I miss one? - Jubilado, Oct 20, 2015

"Art" (as in "Thou art...) would be another if we can pull in some older English. ;-) - Winkfish, Oct 20, 2015

Good one that brings in wast and wert as well - Jubilado, Oct 20, 2015

Answer 5

I would not say that is and be have the same meaning. That would be an oversimplification, or just flat incorrect.

If you look up the word estoy or estamos or multiple others, you will be directed to estar. If you look up sean or sería or multiple others, you will be directed to ser. It's just like your English example with is and be. But it would be an unjustified leap of logic to say that estamos and estar have the same meaning.

Answer 6

Matjam, if you are fluent in English, this should be an easy one for you. In any event, "to be" is the infinitive form of the verb. If you "conjugate it, it goes like this:

I >>>>>>>>>>>> am you(singular)>>> are he, she, it>>>>>> is we>>>>>>>>>>> are you (plural)>>>> are they>>>>>>>>>> are

So "is" is a form of the infinitive "to be."

Wink, it puzzled me, too. I think there is a disconnect when people start trying to translate English verbs into Spanish verbs. - Jubilado, Oct 19, 2015

Yes I knew that 'is' is a form of 'be'. But part of the reason why I asked that question is: Does that same rule apply for Spanish speakers? - Matjam, Oct 19, 2015